Instead of “Full Marks 70”, Assam Univ sets question paper of B.Com 5th sem for 50 marks

April 27: On 27 April,  B.Com 5th Semester (CBCS) students of affiliated colleges under Assam University appeared for their paper “Banking and Insurance” (COMDSE-501T). As per the syllabus of TDC (CBCS) Commerce stream this is a Discipline Specific Elective Theory paper with 6 credits and comprises of 100 full marks. The syllabus specifically mentions that for this paper, there will be 30 marks Internal Assessment and 70 marks Term End Exam.

In the afternoon session on 27 April, the students appeared for the term end exam of “Banking and Insurance” (COMDSE-501T). However, on getting the question paper, all the examinees were in a shock. Instead of 70 marks, it was mentioned in the front page of the question paper- “Full Marks: 50 and Pass Marks: 20. Infact, it should actually be written as “Full Marks: 70 and Pass Mark: 28.” The students appearing for this paper were at a loss to understand why was the full marks written as 50 instead of 70.

A female student appearing for this paper from a private college later on told, “We initially thought that the full marks mentioned on the front page of the question paper may have been erroneously printed. So we thought of checking the question paper thoroughly. But as we turned the pages, our confusion instead of diminishing became multiplied.” The question paper contained 4 pages. There were two parts: Section-A and Section- B.

The instruction written beneath Section- A was “Answer any ten of the following questions: 2×10=20”. A total of twenty questions were given in Section- A and the students were asked to answer any 10 questions. Again, the instruction given in Section- B was “Answer any five questions. Each question carried 6 marks, that means the marks distribution in this unit will be of 6×5=30. There were a total of 10 questions in this section and the students were supposed to answer any five of the, So that means, the total marks for the paper is 20+30=  50.

Students of all colleges who appeared in this paper on 27 April were extremely confused. Unwilling to be named, a teacher of the Commerce faculty of a prestigious college in Silchar said, “It is a major mistake committed by the question setter. But how could that escape the notice of the Moderator and even the Chairman of the Moderation Board? This paper should have been of 70 marks, but the question paper was made of only 50 marks. The students should not be made to lose 20 marks for fault of the university. Each student who appeared in this particular paper should be provided 20 marks in their mark sheet.”